Sigmund Vs. Jung

Chapter 1 – Sigmund Freud

Sigmund Freud was born in Freiberg on May 6, 1856. He left his home in Vienna in 1938 to

escape the Nazis and died September 23, 1939. His parents were Jewish. He was also the first of

8 children. At the age of 17, he entered the University of Vienna, planning to study law, but

instead studied philosophy, physiology and zoology, graduating with a MD in 1881. Freud was

the founder of psychoanalysis.

Personal Life

Freud was married to Martha Bernays and they had 6 children. He was a tobacco smoker,

starting out with cigarettes and later on, smoking cigars. He was advised to quit many times by

 many of his friends and doctors, but declined. Freud believed that “tobacco was a substitute for

masturbation, the one great habit” (Freud and Bonaparte, 2009) Because of his tobacco use, he

developed cancer and had to have surgery to remove it. He also used cocaine as a stimulant and

 analgesic, thinking it was a cure for many mental and physical problems. He also thought that

cocaine could be used as an antidepressant and as a cure for morphine addiction. Then, later on,

when addiction to cocaine started running rampant, it somewhat tarnished Freud’s reputation.

Background

Freud’s career started with Anna O. Anna had been suffering from hysteria. Hysteria occurs

when the patient experiences physical symptoms without any physical cause. During her

discussion with her doctor, Josef Breuer, Breuer used psychoanalysis (talk therapy). She spoke

about her sick father and whenever she brought her thoughts from the unconscious to

consciousness, her paralysis disappeared. When Breuer told Freud about this, Freud proposed a

new theory of the human psyche. His explanation was that “physical symptoms come from

deeply repressed conflicts that have come to the surface” (McLeod, 2013).

Fundamental Ideas

“Freud’s theory of personality states that human behavior interacts with 3 parts of the mind: the

ID, the ego, and the superego. His psychosexual theory argues that personality develops during

childhood and is shaped by 5 psychosexual stages. There is ultimately a conflict between

biological drives and social expectations. Freud believes that sexuality is the main driver for our

personality development (Boundless,2016)

Contributions to the field of psychology

Freud’s work and writings contributed to our understanding of personality, psychology and

human development. His major contributions were the conscious and unconscious mind, the Id,

ego and superego, psychosexual development and the psychosexual theory.

Relevance of their theory

Freud broke down periods of child development into 5 psychosexual stages: oral, anal, phallic,

latency and genital. The Freudian theory brought the effect of early childhood experiences on

adulthood, the first of its kind. The concept of the unconscious was groundbreaking in that he

proposed that awareness existed in layers and there were thoughts occurring "below the surface.”

Chapter 2- Carl Jung

Jung was the founder of analytic psychology. He is also the creator of Jungian archetypes, the

collective unconscious, the psychological complex, extroversion and introversion. He believed in opposites and that everything comes from the unconscious. He thought that we all hold our ancestors within us. This is a quote by Jung. “Anyone who wants to know the human psyche will learn next to nothing from experimental psychology. He would be better advised to abandon exact science, put away his scholar's gown, bid farewell to his study, and wander with human heart throught the world. There in the horrors of prisons, lunatic asylums and hospitals, in drab suburban pubs, in brothels and gambling-hells, in the salons of the elegant, the Stock Exchanges, socialist meetings, churches, revivalist gatherings and ecstatic sects, through love and hate, through the experience of passion in every form in his own body, he would reap richer stores of knowledge than text-books a foot thick could give him, and he will know how to doctor the sick with a real knowledge of the human soul.” – Carl Jung (Boeree, 2006)

Personal Life

Jung was born July 26, 1875 in the Swiss village of Kessewil. Jung was a loner. He did not care

much for school and did not like competition. He would faint under pressure. His mother, Emilie

Jung was an eccentric and depressed woman and spent a lot of time in the hospital. While she

was home, she would spend lots of time in her bedroom, where she claimed that she saw spirits

 that visited her on a regular basis. Carl had even seen one himself one night leaving her room.

 The spirit seemed to float across the floor with its head in its hands. As a young boy, Carl Jung realized the reality of his family’s poverty and the need for academic intelligence. He then forced himself to learn Latin grammar and faced his fear of people and school. After that, he never fainted again.

Background

Jung’s intention was not to study psychology. He wanted to study medicine. What brought him

 into the field was when he was studying a psychiatric textbook and discovered that psychoses,

personality diseases, which combined both the biological and spiritual and that was exactly what

he was looking for. “His excitement was intense and it became very clear to him that psychiatry

was going to be the goal of his life” (Myers, 2008) Carl Jung had the support of Sigmund Freud at one time. “Freud said that Jung was to be his ‘crown prince’ and his personal successor” (Plotnik, Kouyoumdijan, 2014)